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Alma Rose

Alma Rosé is born into a musical elite family at the turn of the century Vienna but her life changes when she’s interned in Auschwitz. To save her life and the lives of many others, Alma becomes the conductor of the Auschwitz women's orchestra. This is the story of Alma, the women she saves and their offspring.

  • Francine Zuckerman
    Director
    After Munich; We Are Here; Mr. Bernstein
  • Francine Zuckerman
    Producer
  • Sally Blake
    Producer
  • Konstanze Speidel
    Producer
  • Alma Rose
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary
  • Genres:
    Dramatic Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 5, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    1,000,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands
  • Language:
    English, French, German, Hebrew
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Francine Zuckerman

A former Montrealer now living in Toronto, Francine’s work as a director is inspired by her profound connection to French Canada. She graduated from film at McGill University; studied directing at Columbia University, NYC and writing at Script Factory, London. She has won numerous awards and been recognized at film festivals around the world. Her strong cinematic vision and her love for working with actors is evident in her films, THE ATWOOD STORIES; PUNCH ME IN THE STOMACH; PASSENGERS and MR. BERNSTEIN and her documentaries HALF THE KINGDOM; EXPOSURE; WE ARE HERE and AFTER MUNICH has taken her to New Zealand, England, Sweden, Poland, Germany and Israel.
She has recently completed her feature documentary AFTER MUNICH about the aftermath of the Munich Olympic massacre of eleven Israeli athletes in 1972 and how four women’s lives are changed forever, now in distribution with Go2Films, this year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the event.
She is in development on a Canadian/Irish dramatic series based on world renown writer Margaret Atwood’s first novel THE EDIBLE WOMAN and a feature non-fiction animated Canada/France/German co-pro, ALMA ROSE, who was born into a famous musical elite family in turn of the century Vienna but her life changes when she’s interned in the dreaded Auschwitz concentration camp but to save her life and the lives of many others, Alma becomes the conductor of the legendary Auschwitz women's orchestra and two feature dramas ANNA and ENTRE NOUS.

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Director Statement

This is a project close to my heart and connects to my body of work focusing on women’s stories and Jewish content. I am especially interested in telling stories based on history, yet looking at
the personal with the historical event at its centre. The connection between music and one’s will to survive resonates for me. One of my previous films, MR. BERNSTEIN is a short drama about a
young woman who hears about her father's life-changing musical experience in a refugee camp and tracks down the famous conductor, Leonard Bernstein years later, with unexpected
consequences. I also made a feature documentary called WE ARE HERE, about the renaissance of Jewish life in Poland and complex relationship for Jews who stayed in Poland after WWII. My
personal family connection to the subject is profound. My father arrived in Canada on September 1st 1939, fleeing Poland as a refugee. Being from a Polish Jewish family, most of my
family did not survive and my films are affected by this history. I believe it is my role to continue to make films about the impact of war and trauma and to tell these stories.
For my new film Alma Rosé, I will be integrating archival footage, interviews and animation using a creative approach to this hybrid documentary. Music will be a central element in the film
with the intention to use music as chapters from Alma’s early years as a musician in Austria; the when the Nazis invaded and she fled Vienna to her time leading the orchestra in Auschwitz. I
will bring Alma Rosé to life through the people who knew her; the members of her orchestra from Auschwitz; the actress, Jane Alexander who played her in the famous film 'Playing for
Time' and through letters from Alma in the book 'Alma Rosé; Vienna to Auschwitz'.
I will be using animation to explore memory as an artifice, as a human reconstruction which gives distance to the reality of the trauma these women face. I see animation as a way for an
audience to witness something devastating like the death camps, yet somehow make it accessible.
It’s a way to delve into memory and bring the past to life. I will make something that happened in the past current again.
Not only will I include the women members of the orchestra who survived but their children and grandchildren. Because of Alma, generations live on.